IT was Gerry Adams who, speaking of the IRA, famously said, "They haven't gone away, you know."
The remark, made in 1995 at a crucial point in the peace process, could have equally come from a loyalist paramilitary leader.
No-one believes the IRA exists in any meaningful sense today. Yet it is one of the profound disappointments - tragedies, even - of the peace process that in 2018 loyalist leaders are still making statements that confirm paramilitary groups like the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando "haven't gone away".
Peace, it seems, comes dropping even slower if you live in an area where the kerbs are painted red, white and blue, the Eleventh night bonfires huge and loyalist paramilitaries exercise control.
Far too many loyalist districts are still in the grip of violence, thuggery, intimidation and extortion.
The reasons for loyalist paramilitaries being slow to transition to peace and put themselves out of existence are complex.
They encompass social, financial and cultural factors, but also policing and justice as well as leadership from within political unionism which, at key moments, has all too often equivocated in the face of loyalist violence and criminality.
Clearly, much work still needs to be done before loyalist paramilitaries go away for good.
In this context, positive initiatives such as the Loyalist Communities Council's 'Declaration of Transformation' deserve to be welcomed, though the sincerity of their intentions must also be examined against reality. There have been too many false dawns.
That, for example, workers sent to inspect an illegal bonfire in south Belfast last week were intimidated was not a promising sign.
Personifying many of the paradoxes around loyalism's tardy transition from paramilitarism to peace is Dee Stitt.
Though he denies being a UDA commander, Stitt is linked to the organisation and, in an interview with this newspaper, admitted having influence within its east Belfast and north Down factions.
He also confirmed that the UDA was recruiting new members "until recently" but that its "war is well and truly over".
Stitt, who insists he does not know why his home was recently raided by the PSNI's Paramilitary Crime Task Force, is also chief executive of community group Charter NI.
It benefits from millions of pounds of public money distributed from a Stormont executive funding vehicle called the Social Investment Fund, with links between Stitt and the DUP reinforced by, among other things, a photograph of him standing with Arlene Foster.
When he says, "I've moved on as a person and I'm trying to bring my community with me", Stitt - along with other loyalist leaders - must convince the entire community that they mean what they say.
The upcoming bonfire and marching season will provide an excellent opportunity for the paramilitaries to show they have truly gone away.
